CAZENOVIA — Recently, Fenner Town Supervisor Dave Jones responded to a letter distributed to Fenner residents by Cypress Creek Renewables, LLC regarding their proposed “Oxbow Hill Solar Project.”
Cypress Creek is a national solar energy company that develops, maintains and operates solar farms.
The proposed 140-megawatt power plant would encompass 1,000 acres and involve a 25-year contract with five-year renewals possible for a 40-year timeframe.
The letter from Jones to Keith Silliman, senior project developer at Cypress Creek, is posted on the Town of Fenner website.
In the correspondence, Jones describes Cypress Creek’s letter to residents as “very confusing, vague and full of misinformation to say the least.”
He first commented that the letter failed to acknowledge two of the parties involved in the proposed Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement.
“When you state that your PILOT agreement between the Oxbow Hill Solar Project and the Town of Fenner, the Canastota School District and Madison County this does not take in consideration the other two parties to the PILOT agreement,” Jones wrote. “You should name all parties that will be receiving a slice of the Town of Fenner’s PILOT monies.”
Jones next questioned Cypress Creek’s statement that the PILOT agreement will provide approximately 10 percent of the Town of Fenner’s budget raised by taxes, as well as its claims that the PILOT will be $70,000 per year for the life of the project and will guarantee consistent and predictable payments.
“According to that, the Town of Fenner would receive approximately $7,700 or 11% of the $70,000, which is how New York State figures their PILOT agreement,” Jones responded. “The schools receive 67% of the total and the county would receive approximately 22% of the total amount. Is this what you meant by the PILOT being $70,000? If so, $7,700 is a far cry from being 10% of our budget raised by taxes. 10% of our budget raised by taxes would be $52,000.”
The town supervisor went on to express his confusion about the statement that Cypress Creek plans to negotiate a host community package (HCA) with the Town of Fenner.
He specifically requested clarification about the nature of the “Fenner Neighbor Fund” Cypress Creek is establishing, asking who or what the fund is and who will be dispersing the funds.
“My understanding of HCAs is that it is made between the company (in this case Cyprus Creek) and the town, not a separate entity that the company has formed,” Jones wrote.
He next addressed his concerns regarding the potential benefits of the project to Fenner’s large Amish population, noting that because they are not on the grid, Amish residents would be unable to benefit from the reduced local utility bills in the form of an electric bill credit, anticipated by Cypress Creek.
He also asked if residents who use power companies other than National Grid would be able to receive electric bill credits.
Lastly, Jones inquired about the developer’s plans to compensate farmers whose operations would be disrupted if the land they have been renting is taken out of production in order to accommodate the project.
“When I posed this question to one of Cyprus Creek’s attorneys after one of our meetings, his response was ‘They will just have to move,’” Jones wrote. “Do you feel this is a viable, caring solution? This solar project will drive the price of valuable farmland up for farmers to rent or purchase. According to agricultural land experts I have spoken to, the Town of Fenner will go from an agricultural community to a power producing utility. I do not think most residents would like or want that definition in the town that many of them were born and raised in, or have chosen to move here because of its rural serenity and beauty.”
To learn more about the proposed Oxbow Hill Solar Project, visit ccrenew.com/projects/oxbow.
